Photoshop or Not photoshop ?

Nowaday, it is very easy to capture picture of any thing, in any situation and with any point of view (tilted LCD) but the result is not the same according to the brand of the camera. I heard that Canon delivers softer picture and Nikon process more the final picture to deliver a sharp and bright picture; No matter the format of the files out of the box.

My experience is nobody can be called "Cartier-Bresson" hanging his Leica on the neck and capture the right picture at the right moment with the perfect framing etc... I ended up by capturing exclusively in RAW format to be able to "photoshop" them. Unfortunately, I am still notice in PS.

And about yours? Your best seller pictures are out of the box or are processed with PS with some enhancement ?

I understand..'cos I have similar dilema too sometimes. I have one order in december. Young woman wanted to make photo calendar for partner, there was some fashion photos and some nudes. She wanted slimer waist, erase wringles around mouth and eyes, have a longer legs.. and also reduce tit in one her silhouette picture.. I was really aghast at this demand..but I did it (with liquify function:)) 'cos she was a client.The most of people don't response little retouches in their own pictures in the fact. They think, that their smile was really so white, or make up so perfect during shooting. they are happy, that they look great.. Why not?Commercial photography is almost about lie. Everybody loves beautiful pictures of beautiful people. And PS is great assistent. I don't have problem with it, there is money and I need to eat :). Different problem is using of PS in photojournalism. 'cos it is about ethics. And I can't understand why some photographers thinks that wedding photography...(More)

@Sarkao, I am agree the process is almost the same but with PS, you can recreate the picture not only to remove dust ;) I saw so video about the "liquify" function ... amayzing ... an fat person can be a top model in the PS world. It is not photography but more painting.

Cartier Bresson wrote about decisive moment BUT his theory was about framing and response of right moment. He wrote about photography without editing, but he used film and he had to develope films and blow ups. Developing is really similar like work with curves in photoshop, and you have to work with masks also..But he wasn't commercial photograph, and his theory is really intersting for reading and great for photojournalism, but isn't valid for stock picture in the fact.

@Antoinette, I am agree with you about the time to process raw pictures. Everybody wants a vibrant and sharp picture nowadays. Unfortunately, I am using a laptop as my main computer to process the RAW files. It is not at all calibrated. It is very hazardous to find the right exposure and lightning. From time to time I connect it to my external LCD screen to compare the result and find the compromise of a good exposure & light.I heard that "Spider" is a nice tool to calibrate the screen. I wish to have some feedback about that before buying one. I hesitate between buying a flashmeter or a calibration tools.

When shooting in RAW photo's always demand some processing in Photoshop. And, like Rosedarc, I remove trademarks and dustspots, if an image needs more then that I throw it away because this would take me too much time. Time that I rather spent on taking pictures.

I shoot in RAW and process the photos with Aperture 3. If necessary I go to Photoshop to remove trademarks, blemishes or unwanted things. I'm not good enough with Photoshop to enhance skilfully; the result looks unnatural and photos would get rejected because of "too many filters". So my best sellers are all very natural.

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